In Faith
by ObiWanFan30
Summary: When Kellerman and Lewis catch the murder of a Mormon bishop, a witness turns out to be closer to one of their colleagues than they realize. AU where the Mahoney shooting was clean without a shadow of a doubt.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: None of the characters from HLOTS are mine, sadly. The only characters that are mine are Jeremy and Miranda.**

_**Chapter 1**_

The young woman got out of her car and walked up to the familiar building on The Alameda. She'd only been back in Baltimore a few weeks, but she still knew where her church meetinghouse was. _This is definitely not where I used to live_, she thought with a rueful grin.

At that moment another car pulled up behind hers, startling her back into the present. She smiled when she saw the driver get out and make his way to her.

"You just get here?" he asked. She nodded and they share a brief, but tender kiss.

She grinned. "I think we beat the bishop here too. I didn't see his car."

Hand in hand, the couple walked up the parking lot to the meetinghouse. To their surprise, the side door was unlocked.

The young man frowned. "I thought you said no one was here."

"I thought no one was. Our cars are the only ones here." The woman's eyes narrowed at the door. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Cautiously the two of them made their way into the building, walking down the hall to the bishop's office. What they found there was horrifying.

Bishop Daniel Tanner was found slumped over his desk almost as if he'd fallen asleep, if not for the bullet wound at the back of his head.

* * *

Detective Mike Kellerman was glad to be back in Homicide. It had been over four months since the shooting, the shooting that had landed him in the hospital with a bullet in his shoulder. He was still smarting over the fact that not only had he had to shoot Luther Mahoney, but that he'd been shot first and had been forced to shoot in self defense. Sure he'd wanted the drug dealer dead, but not before he answered for all the crimes he'd been responsible for.

Since the shooting, he'd been working a desk in the Auto squad, and he'd been missing his old partner, Meldrick Lewis. The two detectives hadn't spoken since being rotated back into Homicide.

Just then, the phone rang. Mike knew he was up and that the docs had given him the green light to go back out on cases, as had Lt. Giardello. He grabbed the phone. "Homicide, Kellerman." He listened intently, took notes, nodded, and then hung up.

"Gee!" he called out to the lieutenant. "I'm gonna need some help on this one."

"What have you got?" the imposing black Sicilian shift commander asked.

"Dead clergyman at a church," Mike replied. "Engaged couple found him when they were going up to meet with him for a pre-marital counseling session, I think."

"Take Lewis," Gee told him.

"Are you sure? I mean, we haven't worked together since we rotated back."

Gee flashed one of his famous scary smiles. "Precisely, Kellerman. You two need to get your rhythm back. And this will be the case to do it."

Nodding, Kellerman went back to his desk. "Hey, Lewis, come on! We got a body waiting!"

Meldrick looked up at his old partner. "What ya talkin' 'bout, Mikey?"

"I got a dead clergy at a church and I need a partner," Mike retorted. "Gee told me to take you along."

Sighing, Lewis grabbed his hat and the two men headed out the door.

During the drive to the church, Lewis turned to Mike who winced in pain as he drove.

"How's your shoulder there, Mikey?" he asked tentatively.

"Docs gave me a clean bill of health with it," Mike told him. "It just gives me hell occasionally."

Lewis took a deep breath. "Mikey, about that, I—"

"Later, Meldrick," Mike said, cutting him off. "We're here."

Mike parked the Cavalier and the two men got out, heading toward the LDS Church building.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so I wanted to do a tribute to my faith, Homicide style. Once again, the disclaimers apply here as in Chapter 1.**

_**Chapter 2**_

"Okay, Rogers," Mike said as she led the two detectives through the church. "What have you got?"

"His name's Daniel Tanner and he was a bishop of this church," Sergeant Sally Rogers was saying. "Now from what I've heard about the Mormons, their clergy donates their time to serve here."

"That's fascinatin'. Who found the body?" Lewis asked.

"A young couple, cooling their heels in the foyer. Names are Jeremy Sanders and Miranda Gharty. Word is that they're engaged to be married and were supposed to have a meeting with the bishop tonight."

The two detectives nodded and then turned to the body that was being examined by the M.E. "What can you tell us?" Lewis asked.

Dr. Julianna Cox smiled grimly. "Other than stating the obvious, not much. He was shot from behind while he was sitting at this desk, and there were no outward signs of a struggle. I'll find out more when I get him on the table."

Mike nodded. "Do what you gotta do in here and then take the body." He and Lewis went looking for the couple in question.

The young couple was indeed sitting on a bench on the foyer of the meetinghouse, holding hands. The man looked to be in his late twenties, nearing thirty, and was very clean cut looking with short, black hair, brown eyes and tan complexion. His fiancée was beautiful with her reddish hair, brown eyes and slightly tan complexion. She also looked to be in her early twenties.

Kellerman and Lewis went up to them, flashing their badges. "I'm Detective Kellerman and this is Detective Lewis," Mike said softly. "We just have some more questions for you."

They nodded and Mike eyed the girl. "What time did you get here?" he asked.

"I got here around four-thirty," Miranda Gharty said. "Jeremy got here maybe five minutes later."

"You didn't come together?" Lewis asked.

"No," Jeremy told them. "I had some work for one of my classes. I'm a doctoral student at University of Maryland. I told Miranda I'd meet her here as soon as I had made a dent in the workload."

"Did you touch anything?" Mike asked.

Miranda shook her head. "No, Detective. My uncle's a cop, so I knew not to disturb the scene." She smiled sadly. "I heard through the grapevine that he transferred to Homicide over the summer."

"Is your uncle Stuart Gharty?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah, but we're not really close. We haven't been close since I joined the church about seven years ago when I was eighteen."

Mike gave her a sympathetic look and then handed her and Jeremy his card. "If either of you remember anything, just give me a call."

Once they were back in the Cavalier, Mike turned to Lewis for a second. "Looks like we're gonna have to have a sit down with Gharty."

Lewis nodded. "A'ight, Mikey. He's gonna find out anyway; he might as well find out from us."

* * *

After notifying the bishop's wife and taking her to the M.E.'s office to ID the body, Kellerman and Lewis came back to the squad room and headed for Gee's office, by way of Gharty's desk. "Gharty, we need to talk to you later," Mike said. The older detective nodded and turned back to the autopsy report he'd been reading.

Once they were in the closed safety of Gee's office, Mike began to give his report to the imposing shift commander.

"Daniel Tanner was a bishop of the Baltimore University 2nd Ward for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was a voluntary position so he had a day job, as a manager of Harborview Hotel. The ones who found the body are Jeremy Sanders and his fiancée Miranda Gharty." Mike closed his notebook. "According to the uniforms, they've only been in Baltimore for a few weeks, having moved from Provo, Utah."

"Any relation to Detective Gharty?" Gee demanded.

"Yeah she's his niece, Gee," Lewis replied. "But she's sayin' that she and our Gharty ain't been close since she converted to bein' a Mormon and all."

"I thought maybe we could have a private sit-down with Gharty in the Box, break it to him that his niece is a potential witness in a murder investigation, so he doesn't hear it through the unit grapevine," Mike interjected. "We'll do it now before pushing the M.E."

"All right, but don't take all day Kellerman," Gee retorted sternly. "This is a courtesy, so don't be telling him the particulars; just that his niece is a witness."

The two detectives nodded and left the office, going straight to Gharty's desk. "Gharty, we need to talk to you," Mike said. "In the Box."

Gharty nodded and followed the two detectives into the interrogation room affectionately called The Box. It's probably a case that's connected to one of mine, he thought.

"Okay, what's up?" he asked.

Mike sighed and got down to business. "Stu, we caught a murder of a Mormon bishop and your niece, Miranda, is a potential witness. She and her fiancé found the body."

Meldrick shrugged. "Look, we just wanted to let you know just in case this turns into a candy apple redball, which it very well might, ya know?"

"Yeah," Gharty said, shaking his head. He hadn't known that Miranda had come back to Baltimore. Last he'd heard she was engaged to a music student who was majoring in Conducting Orchestral Music and Pedagogy. I guess they must have moved here for his schooling, he thought. "Thanks for letting me know. I'm not too surprised that she didn't let me know she was back in town." He got up to leave. "Do what you guys gotta do."

Heading back to his desk, Gharty grabbed his coat and turned to his partner. "Ballard, can you cover for me for an hour or so? There's something I gotta do."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Mike and Meldrick walked into the M.E.'s office and it didn't take them long to find Julianna examining their victim, Bishop Daniel Tanner. She carefully pared the fingernails down to have them analyzed by the lab for traces.

"He was shot once and the bullet severed the brain stem," she told them. "It's in pristine condition, believe it or not and it came from a 9mm Glock. Off the record, I think he could've been killed, execution style. We also have traces under his fingernails. It looks like he did struggle with his attacker after all. We're sending samples to the lab to be analyzed, but it looks like he may have scratched his killer before being forced into his chair and shot."

"Looks like all we need is the killer's name and address," Lewis quipped. "But didn't the happily engaged couple say that the side door was open?"

"Yeah," Mike said as he looked through his notes. "But the kids were coming for an interview with the esteemed clergyman, so wouldn't the door be open for them?"

"Yeah, but there were only two cars in the parking lot at the time the body was found." Lewis flashed a grim smile. "Both belonging to the bride and groom-elect, Mikey. I think we need to pay a visit to the bishop's eternal companion, see if she gave him a ride to his second job today."

Mike nodded and Julianna turned to a diener, a young woman in her early twenties. "Hey Tempe, give the customers their groceries."

The brunette woman grinned. "Okay, here ya go. Clothes in this bag; personal effects and jewelry in here," she was saying as she handed them a small envelope and large brown sack. "And nail scrapings and blood samples in this bag to go straight to the lab. And we took the liberty of sending the bullet to ballistics for confirmation on the caliber of the weapon."

"Thanks," Mike told the girl. Tempe was a good worker, and it was obvious Julianna trusted her. And that said a lot, considering that the last diener had been stealing money and jewelry off the bodies coming through the M.E.'s office last year, so Mike and Meldrick understood why Cox was hesitant to trust anyone again. However, it looked like Tempe was pulling her own weight and keeping her nose, so it was so far, so good.

"Let's go pay a visit to the eternal companion," Mike said as they walked out to the Cavalier. "Like you said, maybe she gave him a ride to the church when he got off work today."

"Yeah, or we could be looking for a car jockey on top of everything else." Lewis shook his head. "But why would a car jockey force a Mormon bishop into his office, sit him down at his desk and then blow his brains out if all he wanted to do was steal his car?"

"I don't know, but we gotta rule it out." Mike shook his head. "Plus there's another angle that's been gnawing at me. He was the manager for the Harborview Hotel, and that was where…" His voice trailed off.

"That was where the late and not very much lamented Luther Mahoney lived," Lewis finished for him. "You think this might be connected to you bein' forced to light 'im up?"

"It's crossed my mind," Mike replied. "We gotta look into that angle just to rule it out."

The ride passed in an uncomfortable silence as both men remembered what happened a few months before.

* * *

Detective Stuart Gharty parked the Cavalier and made his way up the walk to a duplex. It had taken some doing, but he found out this was where Miranda was living with three other girls. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

The door opened and a girl who looked like she was either nineteen or twenty stood in the doorway. She was lovely with her brown hair and eyes.

"Hi, is Miranda here?" Gharty asked softly.

"Yeah, she just got home. Who's asking?" The girl, obviously Miranda's roommate, gazed at him warily.

"I'm her uncle," Gharty replied.

The girl shrugged and closed the door. Gharty could hear conversation inside and then a moment later, the door opened and he was facing his niece for the first time since she'd joined the Mormon church.

"Uncle Stuart," she said warily. "I guess you heard about what happened." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, I should've known you'd be knee deep in trouble," he said, almost sneering. "You disappear to Mormon country for a few years and when you do finally decide to show up, you're a witness to a murder."

Miranda's eyes widened at her uncle's callous attitude. "Hey, I didn't ask for Jeremy and me to find our bishop dead. We were supposed to have an interview tonight before the wedding."

"So what are you doing back in Bawlmer, anyway?" he demanded. "I thought when you left here we wouldn't see you in this life."

"Not that it should concern you," Miranda shot back, trying desperately to keep the hurt out of her voice. "But Jeremy and I came back here to attend grad school. He's hoping to get a job here, and I was hoping to mend fences with the family. But from the way you're talking to me I guess it won't be possible, will it?"

"Not unless you decide to leave that religion of yours," he said coldly. "Until then, there's nothing more to say." With that, he walked down the steps, not even looking back.

Miranda waited until he was long gone before going back inside and grabbing her purse. "Lisa, I'll be back in a while. I just need to be alone."

Lisa nodded and watched with concern as her roommate walked out of their apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

Kellerman and Lewis walked out of the row house. _Well that angle is ruled out_, Mike thought. _Only a few more to go_.

"Okay, so Mrs. Tanner drove her husband to the church because his car is in the shop for repairs," Meldrick said. "Just to make sure, how about we go to the repair shop?"

"What, you don't think Mrs. Tanner was telling the truth?" Mike demanded. "Come on, Meldrick! These are Mormons for crying out loud. She was in this for time and all eternity so I doubt she was planning on having a hit man cap her husband in his church office."

"How is it that you know so much about the Mormon church there, Mikey?" Meldrick countered.

"Did you see the way Miranda was looking at her fiancé?" Mike looked at his partner long and hard. "She looked like she was looking forward to time and all eternity with Mr. Sanders. That's the way Mrs. Tanner looked when we questioned her about her husband." He paused for a second. "A friend of mine from college was Mormon. He was a real cool guy too back in the day. He was just coming back to school after serving a mission."

"Was he engaged to be married like our grad students?"

"Oh yeah, the girl waited for him while he was on his mission. He told me about what marriage for them entailed." Mike smiled. "I have to tell ya it made me think long and hard for a bit. I mean you love someone that much to not only pledge yourself for life, but also for forever."

Meldrick smiled. "That's deep Kellerman. C'mon, man. Let's hit that repair shop."

* * *

Miranda lost track of how long she'd been strolling down Fell's Point pier. She didn't even know where she was going; all she knew was that she needed to be alone. She finally ended up on one of the docks, sitting there with her feet hanging over the edge. She'd even taken off her shoes and socks, rolled up her jeans legs and dipped her feet in the cool, soothing water.

"Great minds think alike, I guess," a soft female voice said behind her. Miranda turned halfway to see another one of her roommates sitting down beside her.

"Hey Tempe," she whispered. "I guess you know, don't you?"

"That's an understatement. I had to help with the autopsy today." Tempe smiled wanly. "If it makes you feel any better, the two detectives on the case, Kellerman and Lewis, will do whatever it takes to find whoever killed Bishop Tanner." She paused for a moment and slipped a comforting arm around her friend. "How are you holding up?"

"Until about thirty minutes ago, I was okay considering that Jeremy and I found our bishop dead in his office." Miranda shook her head. "I wasn't even home fifteen minutes before my uncle showed up."

Tempe hissed. It was no secret among the roommates sharing the duplex apartment that Miranda had been disowned by her family when she became a Mormon. In fact, they'd made things so hard for her that she'd left Baltimore for Utah where she attended college until she served a mission to England. After her mission, she went back to BYU and that was where she met Jeremy. They became engaged and were both accepted to University of Maryland graduate school, him as a music major, her as a journalism major. They were planning to marry in June in the Provo Temple. But now with their bishop dead, what would become of their plans? Tempe didn't know.

"I know what you're thinking, Tempe," Miranda said as she flashed a wan smile of her own. "The bishopric will be reorganized before long. Nothing will change our plans."

"That's a relief, but what about your uncle?" Tempe pressed gently. "What did he say to you?"

"Basically accused me of abandoning the family to run off to 'Mormon country'; and then when I do finally decide to show up, I'm a witness in a murder investigation." Miranda's voice was bitter. "You know there was another reason I came back to Baltimore. I wanted to try to mend fences with the family; let them know I was getting married, but Uncle Stuart basically said that unless I leave 'that religion of mine', then we have nothing to talk about."

Tempe hugged her close and then began to haul her to her feet. "Come on, girlie. Let's go to my uncle's place. He'll probably have leftover spaghetti."

Miranda smiled genuinely this time. "My favorite comfort food, how does he know?"

Tempe laughed. "He used to be a murder police; he's smart."

* * *

"Well that jives with what the wife told us," Lewis said. "So that angle is out too. I hate to say it Mikey, but what if Georgia Rae is not only coming after us for her brother's death, but anyone who might be connected to it, no matter how remote?"

"Bishop Tanner wasn't connected to it at all," Mike countered. "All he did was manage the Harborview Hotel where Luther lived. Besides, Tanner was killed by a 9 mm Glock, not the Desert Eagle that Junior Bunk used to take shots at us two months ago."

"So, what're ya thinkin', Mikey?" Lewis asked warily.

"I hate to admit it, but what if this is a hate crime? What if someone decided to whack our bishop because of his faith?"

"I don't like that angle either, but we have to look into it to rule it out at least." Meldrick sighed. "Maybe we should talk to our engaged couple again, find out if they knew of any harassment that mighta been happenin'."

* * *

"Here comes another pound or two," Miranda joked as she finished off her serving of spaghetti and meat sauce. "Thanks Mr. Bolander."

Stanley Bolander fixed his niece's roommate with a mock stern glare. "How many times do I have to tell you, just call me Stan? Mr. Bolander makes me feel old."

She giggled. "Well I was always taught to respect my elders, so how about I just follow Tempe's example and call you Uncle Stan?"

The retired homicide detective smiled. "Deal, little lady. Now, when are you going to be bringing your fiancé around for dinner?"

"When he actually has a spare moment," came the reply. "We've both been really busy and it's only the beginning of the semester. Maybe we might be able to see you before the holidays if I'm feeling lucky."

Stan smiled sadly. He knew that Miranda was Stu Gharty's niece, but that she'd had a falling out with him and the rest of the Gharty clan when she joined the LDS church at eighteen. They'd just cut her dead and he thought it was disgraceful. Thankfully, according to her story, there had been some good ward members who'd taken her in, and she'd managed to get a full scholarship to BYU in Provo, Utah. He had to admit her survival was in part because the hand of God had been involved.

Thirty minutes later, he was alone, the girls having gone back to their apartment as Miranda wanted to put the finishing touches on a paper that was due in a couple of days. Stan knew what she was doing; she wanted to keep busy so she wouldn't have to think about finding her bishop's body at his office. Taking a deep breath, he got up and grabbed his coat. It was time to have a word with Stu Gharty.


End file.
